Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="TheAlkaizer" data-source="post: 9723865" data-attributes="member: 7024893">I just finished the podcast. It was a blast to listen to. I started to read some of Peterson's books this year, but I'm progressing slowly (life stuff) and the podcast was a perfect fit for when I was the dishes.I'm too young to have experienced the thick of what the podcast explore (born 1990), yet I read and heard so much about all this rattle. Gygax VS Arneson, Williams was a witch, Gygax was a victim, Gygax was a genius, Gygax was a terrible business man, etc.I'm not gonna take for granted that the podcast is the complete source of truth, but I'll take for granted that most of what it depicted happened.I'm shocked! It's a crazy story. The unpredictable convergence of different interests and ideas that sprouts a new form of storytelling, the business that starts in the middle of nowhere and skyrockets in a matter of years to millions in revenue, the absolute graveyard of relationships and friendships left behind this path to wealth and success. The battle of egos. The lawsuits...It was really a huge melting pot of flawed individuals (as we all are) with a lot of time and money.I was blown away by the baffling business decisions taken, by some of the testimonies that described what certain people said or acted. I was lucky to have never worked in a toxic work environment, or to have witness corporate politics.In the end, I think Gygax's story is kind of a tragedy with a touch of bittersweetness at the end. He rose to fame and wealth because of who he is, but that also brought him down really hard really fast. I was touched by the mention of his reconnection with fans towards the latter years of his life. It echoed the communal and playful spirit of the first few episodes of the show.The podcast talked way less about Arneson. But to me it seemed like he was a resourceful and inventive designer that just didn't have the skillset to discipline an organize himself to put his ideas into form (which seems to be what Gygax did with bryo in the early 1970s, damn they were productive). I'd like to know more about him in the future.As for Williams... she seemed like the most balanced character. She was a businesswoman through and through. I do think the way she took over the company was sneaky and lacked a certain honesty. But it is business, and from what the podcast described, it seems to be that Gygax would have run the company in the ground if things had continued. I work in a startup as number two, and I would not have trusted and continued if my boss had acted the way Gygax had. Sometimes dire situations requires dire measures. Some would say that if Williams had not done things the way she had, Gygax could have found a way to buy the Blumes shares and keep the company. Which is exactly why she did what she did. Her goal was not to just fix the Blumes situation, it was not to get more shares, the goal was to pry control of the company out of Gygax' hands. And that's exactly what she did.I'll go back to reading Peterson's book with this new knowledge in mind, it'll help me frame some things.</blockquote>

Verification